Diary Writing for Beginners
by chipofmintchocolate
Summary: Nightwing gets Kaldur to start his first journal. "This is Nightwing's first written assignment for me, to narrate the story that led me here, to Black Manta. It's a long tale with many details, so I will take it in several parts."


**Disclaimer:** Not mine. It's all Greg's.

**Warning:** It's my first time writing Kaldur, and writing in first person is not my specialty. Plus, an in-character Kaldur journal isn't exactly the most exciting thing in the world. The boy takes everything _way_ too seriously.)

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**Mission Log: **Entry 1

_(Written in a code Nightwing created. The encrypted file is automatically entered into a flash drive, which is embedded with as much security as the Batcave computer itself. Information on this flash drive can be sent by Kaldur to Nightwing. If someone attempted to get into the flash drive or hack the link between Nightwing and Kaldur, the flash drive would self-destruct.)_

**Date:** May 15, 2015

**Purpose: **This is Nightwing's first written assignment for me: To narrate the story that led me here, to Black Manta. It's a long tale with many details, so I will take it in several parts. If need be, I will describe some events in greater detail in later entries

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It has been two weeks since I accepted my father's invitation to join his forces. I am not yet used to the Black Manta uniform, which is heavy and abrasive to the skin despite the insulated bodysuits we wear.

The over-sized helmet especially unbalances me while swimming. Besides the headpiece's programming, which features underwater radio communication, infrared vision, and other useful technologies, it is as useless as a hollowed-out rock fixed upon my skull.

I also cannot go about barefooted, because it is against Black Manta protocol. I am not accustomed to shoes, so my boots discomfort me. I feel trapped inside of them like a fish in a net. What good is it to have webbed toes if you are not allowed to swim with them? There is not a semblance of logic in this arrangement, and I...

Oh. I apologize. Engrossed in my needless complaining, I seem to have forgotten the topic at hand. Let me refocus myself:

The events which led me to this point in my life began three months ago.

My blood-father's formal announcement of my birthright, made in front of my King and Queen at their son's fourth birthday celebration, came as a shock to me and all Atlantis.

He declared that my father, Calvin Durham, was in actuality my adopted father, and my mother had been with child when Calvin helped her escape Black Manta's fortress. They ran away together, and my adopted father raised me as his own.

Black Manta called me to leave my home and the land-dweller Team I loved to lead his army at his side, as his son and successor. In my distress and surprise, I could not answer him, so he retaliated with brute force.

Black Manta's subsequent attack upon Atlantis devastated our forces, and when the Team was assigned to infiltrate Black Manta's base of operations, one of his men took the life of my...of _Garth's_...beloved Tula.

My fellow Atlanteans often told me, "She fought valiantly to the end and died with honor," in order to comfort me in my grief.

To speak in truth, it mattered little to me, Garth, the Team, or Tula's family whether Tula died with dignity or shame. It only mattered that she was no longer with us. No amount of honor can bring someone back from the dead.

Even though Nightwing decided to use the circumstances as a stage for our operation, it was no exaggeration that the news and Tula's death affected me deeply. I felt betrayed by my rulers, my Team, and my parents, whom I love. My actions afterwards were inexcusable, but Nightwing and my other friends have told me in the context of my situation, I was only behaving naturally.

It is now ten minutes until my father will call me to dine with him, so I will leave the rest of my story for another day.

I expected to use this data log purely for Intel-gathering purposes, but Nightwing encouraged me to also, "document any thoughts that could distract me from my mission," to help me focus and keep my psychological state in balance.

Nightwing believes I am emotionally wounded from my recent experiences, and he hopes engaging in the practice of "writing a journal" will help me heal since I cannot converse with my friends while undercover. Counseling and psychological treatment are not commonly used or studied in Atlantis, and the land-dweller concept of a "healthy mind" is curious to me.

However, I feel lighter somehow after completing this exercise. Perhaps I will make use of it again.

- Kaldur'ahm son of Calvin and Sha'lain'a

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**Later note:**

I allowed Nightwing to read my entry and assess whether or not he deemed this "journaling" activity beneficial to me. He thought the first part, when I was expressing my distaste for Black Manta's uniform, was very amusing, and he found no fault in my composition.

In his words, "Starting a Diary: You're doing it right."

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**Note:** Like it? Love it? What some more of it? Then please leave a review! :)


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